Abstract

This is a brief exposition, at an elementary level, of the differences between a "causalist," or more specifically a utilitarian, ethics and a "taboo," or intuitionist ethics, with respect to the use of compulsion in spare parts surgery. the argument was that the utilitarian sees individuals less as "owners" of their bodies, with inalienable rights over them, but more as resources which can be used for the benefit of society at large. it is suggested that it would be extraordinarily difficult to insert such a view of our bodies into our everyday view of ourselves